Newey explains decision to join Aston Martin: 'Needed a new challenge'

SILVERSTONE, England (AP) — Formula 1's most influential car designer, Adrian Newey, is joining Aston Martin in March 2025 after leaving Red Bull, ending months of speculation over a backroom figure who seemed more in-demand than any driver.

Newey has spent nearly two decades with Red Bull and is widely credited with putting the team on its path to dominance in F1. On Tuesday, Aston Martin confirmed he's joining a team that has big ambitions to challenge for the title and the backing of billionaire Lawrence Stroll — but no race wins yet.

Newey will arrive in his new role as “managing technical partner” in time to help shape how Aston Martin responds to the new F1 car regulations coming for 2026. He'll also be made a shareholder in the team.

Newey said he and Stroll got to know each other while training in the gym during F1 race weekends in Asia. Newey visited Aston Martin's new headquarters in June as Stroll closed in on a signing which the Canadian billionaire called “another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula 1 team capable of fighting for world championships.”

“You have to be honest with yourself and you have to keep yourself fresh and so I felt I needed a new challenge,” Newey said.

He added that Stroll's hands-on approach as an owner was an “old-school model” that reminded him of his old bosses at teams like Williams and McLaren, which both won titles with Newey-designed cars in the 1990s.

“I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams, but really, Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing, it’s very persuasive.”

Stroll didn't comment on the details of a pay package which reportedly rivals those of F1's top drivers.

“I can tell you, Adrian is a bargain,” he said. “We intend to be around here a very long time together, so it’s relatively inexpensive for everything Adrian brings in the partnership we will have.”

The last time the regulations had a big change, with the return of “ground effect” aerodynamics for 2022, it was Newey's Red Bull that dominated as Max Verstappen won the championship. Newey had a lifetime of experience to draw on, having written his university thesis on ground effect in the 1980s, back when it was previously used in F1.

Aston Martin's drivers are Fernando Alonso, the two-time champion and Lance Stroll, the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll. Newey said he'd known Lance Stroll from his teenage years competing against Newey's son in Formula 3, and said Alonso seemed like “a kind of archenemy at times” when he was challenging for wins against Newey's previous employers.

While Newey looks to the 2026 design, Aston Martin will aim to stop a slide in its performance. Alonso had eight podium finishes last year for a team that seemed on the up, but neither driver has finished higher than fifth in 2024.

Newey joined Red Bull in 2006 and helped the team win seven drivers’ titles — including the last three seasons with Verstappen — and six constructors’ titles.

Red Bull said in May that its chief technical officer would be stepping back from F1 design and focus on a production car, the RB17, before leaving in the first quarter of 2025.

The announcement comes ahead of this week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and at a time when Red Bull’s dominance of F1 seems to be slipping.

Max Verstappen — who recently called his Red Bull car a “monster” — and his teammate Sergio Perez have not won any of the last six races, the team’s longest drought since 2020, while McLaren and Mercedes now seem to have faster cars.

Newey’s departure is also part of a broader exodus of senior Red Bull staff in a season which began amid legal turmoil when team principal Christian Horner was accused of misconduct by an employee. Red Bull’s parent company dismissed a complaint against Horner and an appeal was dismissed last month.

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